There’s nothing better than the midsummer arrival of New Jersey corn season. Now, even America’s favorite corn flake will have a Jersey connection, at least on the corporate level.
Italian food giant Ferrero Group, with its North American base in Parsippany, announced July 10 that it will acquire WK Kellogg Co. and its “iconic portfolio of breakfast cereals,” including signature brands such as Corn Flakes, Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops and Rice Krispies, in a $3.1 billion deal.
Those grocery staples will join a Ferrero product line that features confections and other treats including Ferrero Rocher candy, Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac and Butterfinger, among other brands.
WK Kellogg is still based in Battle Creek, Michigan, where the company was founded 120 years ago. After the acquisition, Ferrero said, Battle Creek “will remain a core location for the company and will be Ferrero’s headquarters for North America cereal.”
Morris County a hub for food industry
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of this year. The statement didn’t mention what impact, if any, it would have for the Parsippany office. Despite a post-COVID shuttering of many corporate offices, Morris County has remained a hub for international food conglomerates.
B&G Foods Inc. — owner of the Jolly Green Giant, Dash and other popular grocery brands — said in April that it was signing a 16-year lease to keep its headquarters in Parsippany. Mondelez International announced in 2023 that it would build a $50 million research and development center on Route 10 in Whippany.
The latest deal includes the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of Kellogg cereals across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. It unites two of the world’s most recognizable consumer brands as the industry seeks to weather a tough spending backdrop marked by persistent inflation.
“This is more than just an acquisition — it represents the coming together of two companies, each with a proud legacy and generations of loyal consumers,” Ferrero Group Chairman Giovanni Ferrero said in a news release.
The deal is said to be Ferrero’s biggest acquisition since 2018, when it bought Nestle’s U.S. confectionery business for $2.8 billion. The group reported revenue of $19.2 billion in the financial year ending on Aug. 31 and said it had increased its investments to boost manufacturing capabilities and expand across categories.
Pop Tarts, Pringles in Hackettstown
WK Kellogg was spun off the original Kellogg Co. in 2022, in a corporate split that also saw the creation of Kellanova, which inherited snack brands such as Pop Tarts, Cheez-It and Pringles as well as the distribution of Kellogg’s cereals outside North America. Kellanova was acquired by another North Jersey-based food giant, Mars Inc., for $36 billion in 2024. Mars bases its U.S. manufacturing operation in Hackettstown.
View the full article at Yahoo! Finance.